Return to Squash - Monday April 12th

All,

Just to say - England squash have announced their intention to allow squash clubs to open on the 12th April (this coming monday) - which is great news.

This is in alignment with the UK Goverment return from COVID roadmap.

Limitations as previoulsy outlined will be in place until / around 17th May. We will keep you all updated with guidelines / critical dates as we recieve them.

Limitations are: Individual and same household activity & one-to-one coaching.

To help you get ready for squash / get some movement going, Our Mr Brooker has recommneded following the following YouTube video (created by Gary Nisbet) which will help prior to running around on a court like a lunatic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZahfNzbV0BM

Lets not damange ourselves as soon as we jump on court!

I will send out further guidelines around usage of the club / do's & dont's etc. as we approach the weekend.

Finally - I just want to say a huge thankyou for all of those that have renewed their subscription so far - massively appreciated. If i could encourage those of you that have not renewed to do so please - its critical in order to keep the club alive!

I look forwards to seeing you all down the club soon!

Club Re-Opening Plans (12th April) & Membership Renewals

I hope you are all keeping well and hopefully we will all be seeing some level of normality in the not so distant future!

I wanted to send out a follow-up e-mail to outline a number of points discussed in my previous communication around re-opening after COVID & membership renewals.

I want to open by saying a massive heart-felt thank you for all of the support and understanding that you have all given around the renewal of the Cheam Squash & Racketball membership to ensure that the club remains in good financial health and will allow us to continue to offer great Squash and Racketball facilities. It was so nice receiving all the correspondence from folks wanting to ensure we are here for many years to come. More on membership renewals further on in this email.

Return to Squash after COVID / Re-Opening of Squash Facilities - To start on 12th April.

Firstly, I want to touch on the “return to squash” timeline (this is still subject to change - and we will update as we learn more). Currently this looks to be as follows:

- 12th April Courts reopen allowing solo practice, one-to-one coaching (with one of our qualified coaches) and same household squash.

- No earlier than 17th May: Groups of 6 people to mix - We believe this may align to the “squash bubbles” that we previously put in place - but we are waiting to hear more. This may also be “modified” games. Please note that if we do follow the Squash Bubbles format - people will remain in their previously elected bubbles.

- No earlier than 21st June: All play, competitions and coaching fully open

All of these dates are subject to change - and we will update as we learn more from Sport England / England Squash.

If you wish to see the details that England Squash publish around this - please goto the following link: https://www.englandsquash.com/back-to-squash/guidance

Membership Renewals - 2021-> 2022

Secondly - Moving onto membership renewals. Again - a massive thank you for the supportive feedback. As outlined in previous communications - we have still had ongoing costs although the club has been closed. The membership renewals are an essential part of keeping the club afloat and viable.

We will now be opening the 2021-2022 membership renewal cycle - The renewal costs will be the same as last year. You will shortly be receiving comms from MyCourts to allow you to complete the renewal cycle. Nick Russell, Alex Gilbert, Charles Baldachino and myself are available to answer any questions you may have as we go through this cycle - Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions / need any assistance.

For the reasons outlined above, your prompt response to this renewal cycle would be much appreciated!

As ever - thank you for all of the support you give the club - and will hopefully see you down the courts VERY soon!

Cheam Squash - Update on Re-Opening & Membership Renewals

Hello All,

I hope this mail / update finds you and yours all well in these times of COVID and you are looking to get back to some form of normality in the not-so-distant future – I definitely am!

I wanted to send an update out around a couple of things, namely “Return to Squash” and also a note around membership renewals, approach to an AGM – and to also to ask for you to support your squash club in these somewhat difficult times!

So here goes!!!

Return to Squash.

So, as you may notice – the government is getting ready to back off some of the covid related restrictions – and as this happens, hopefully it means we can start getting back to some form of squash.

We have no exact guidance from England Squash at this point, however the dates of release of information are as follows:

- W/C 22nd March - Sport England will announce return to indoor-sport plans

- W/C 22nd March AFTER Sport England announce plans, England Squash will release guidance for squash clubs

We do know that indoor gyms are looking to open on / around 12th April – so we are hoping to see some alignment with this date, however we need to see the guidance from England Squash

As soon as I am in the receipt of the various updates – I will send a note out to the club with further details.

We will be spending some time now – looking at getting the club ready to re-open!

Membership Renewals.

Whilst I am sending this communication – I also want to update all with regards to Membership. As you know the membership is due around this time of year.

The committee are acutely aware of the lack of squash we have been able to play this year. Regardless of “Open times of Cheam Squash” over the last yeartime on court – we still have financial commitments we have to cover – examples being buildings rent, MyCourts booking system subscriptions etc.

Whilst we have had some of our management costs covered by the government schemes – the big-ticket items still need to be covered – this isn’t just for the benefit of Cheam Squash but also sports club as a whole

With this in mind, we are going to have to ask for the standard renewal cycle to be in place. I appreciate that this is a hard message, but without this, the financial viability of the club will be significantly compromised – and I think we all agree that we want the club to be in a healthy position so we can enjoy it for years to come. I thank you all for your support!

In terms of costs - We are going to keep subscription and court booking costs at the SAME PRICE at last year – but depending on numbers of people renewing / financial position (once we have been through this renewal cycle) we may need to look at amending costs of court bookings.

I Do want to gauge the view on this approach to membership – and want to understand if you, as a club member are OK with this approach and happy to support this renewal cycle – so please do let me know! (all feedback is good feedback).

The committee are hard at work at looking at ideas and approaches to help us return from squash, looking at events, get ready for squash videos etc – which we will start releasing – if you have ideas that you wish to call out / add – please feel free to email me directly and we can add to the list (just respond to this note).

Finally – AGMs are going to be difficult in these times – so I am going to propose that the next AGM done via email – as mass gatherings simply are not going to be able to happen. I will be asking for a vote of approach – so we can re-appoint the committee /get your blessing for direction of the club – with a simple acknowledgement back via email – more to follow!

Let’s start rebuilding the Cheam Squash (& Racquetball) community on the back of COVID and let’s make it a more fun and vibrant place to be than ever!